


First

by HeyitsVi



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Haruno Sakura-centric, Non-Massacre AU, Strong Haruno Sakura, itasaku - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25873435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyitsVi/pseuds/HeyitsVi
Summary: For Uchiha Itachi's heart, Konoha had always been first.For Haruno Sakura's, it had always been Uchiha Itachi.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Itachi
Comments: 23
Kudos: 217





	First

**Author's Note:**

> Just some notes before the story starts, this is an AU in the sense that the timeline is different. The Uchiha Massacre was delayed to when Uchiha Itachi is already 24 years old and Sakura is around 19.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Uchiha Itachi stared at the stone, wondering if this was just a really long and really elaborate nightmare. Maybe he had already died and he was stuck in some kind of hell. The name written

_Haruno Sakura_

The edges around the letters were still rough, showing how it was only recently added compared to the other names on the memorial.

She'd already been missing for three months when the news broke that the Godaime was changing her status to MIA. The whole village had gone into mourning, as if a Kage had died. Flowers piled high at the door of her old office in the hospital until now, six months after her disappearance. People still talked about her like a martyred saint.

Haruno Sakura was popular to say the least. And to some extent, she probably was a martyr. She was the doctor that saved anyone and everyone regardless of what it would cost her. She spent many nights walking home with a flickering chakra signal that would have killed other shinobi, her chakra control—the best that the she's ever seen according to the Hokage—only keeping her alive. And because of her dedication to save everyone, the people of Konoha loved her. To the extent that they spoke about her in reverence.

Upon finding out the change in her status, Sasuke and Naruto had been livid. Both had marched straight into Tsunade's office demanding that she take it back or there would be hell to pay but the Hokage shook her head. Protocol dictated that she change it now and it had already been done. The two younger ninja weren't happy and had caused enough of a scene that they were kicked out of the tower, which was lenient considering that their actions were bordering treason but Tsunade understood. She knew the pink-haired girl even before she became Hokage when Sakura had begged her to teach her to become a medic. She loved her too.

The Godaime herself had been desolate after her initial stages of destructive anger, nearly toppling the Hokage tower itself to the ground. But the woman had no choice but to hold her head high and carry on. She had a village to run and after the two retrieval missions for her apprentice failed to find the girl, she had to accept that Haruno Sakura would not be coming home.

Hatake Kakashi had gone neurotic. Taking any mission available that was close to her last known location regardless of rank. Everyone knew that he was still searching for her and that the man believed against all odds that the pink-haired medic was still alive. His former captain spent his days in the village holed up in Sakura's old apartment, refusing to cut the lease and paying for it himself. People whispered that the man had been hopelessly in love with her after watching the young girl grow up into a lovely woman and how much of a romantic tragedy it was that the love he held was unrequited and that she wouldn't be coming back.

For a time Itachi wondered if this could have been prevented if he had offered to go with her but he knew he couldn't have at the time. The Uchiha Clan had been silently planning a coup during her disappearance and he could not afford to leave for fear of what might happen should he let it go on unsupervised.

It was only through the surprisingly easy agreement of the Council to his father's demands that had delayed it and eventually, the retirement of the Sandaime and the rise of Tsunade as the Godaime that had crushed any possibility of a civil war. Satisfied at the removal of Hiruzen, who in the eyes of the Uchiha was prejudiced and favored his friends, the Uchiha Clan pledged their allegiance to the new Hokage and secured a place in the village.

But those who whispered Sakura's name still continued, they said he had no right to mourn her because he was the former love interest of the much-loved kunoichi, the heartless man that broke her just before she left. The rumors say it was because the Uchiha Clan did not find the girl worthy of the heir but this was completely and utterly untrue.

His parents loved the girl like their own and the clan loved the connections that she brought with her. Many Uchiha considered her to be their clan's personal medic and only the pink-haired girl was allowed to touch their eyes, not even the Hokage was given that privilege. She was the only one who was worthy they said, which was most likely why the backlash from his family he received upon news of their separation spread was unsurprising.

He was told to reconsider. He was told that Haruno Sakura was tailored to stand at the side of an Uchiha with her hands that could heal their doujutsu and prevent them from going blind. They would accept no other bride for the heir.

They had all gone quiet when her disappearance had been announced while his parents wore the black of mourning for the daughter that they had lost.

As for himself, he had carried on as he always had but only because he had no idea what to do.

He could still recall the day before she left.

"Hey," He heard her before he saw her.

Itachi turned to look at Haruno Sakura, his girlfriend of more than three years, as she made her way to the bench where he was seated contemplating the sins that he was about to commit.

The coup was ready to be set in motion and the moment that the Council denied the demands of his father at the meeting that was to be held sometime this week, the Uchiha would retaliate in a bloody fashion because that had always been what they were good at. According to the Council, that was all they were good for, disloyal dogs that they were.

But Itachi had always put Konoha first, his loyalty to his village never a question and he'll be proving it to the Hokage himself at the cost of his own family and life. He had already accepted his orders at the condition that Sasuke be kept safe, and which the Sarutobi reluctantly agreed to upon Itachi's explanation that the younger boy had been kept in the dark due to his close relation with the Kyuubi vessel, who could not keep a secret to save his life.

Sasuke would hate him, he knew. But he also knew that Sakura would take care of Sasuke and that was enough.

He stared at the koi that swam gracefully in the pond and took in the peace that surrounded them. This was their place, the place where they had first met, the place where he asked if he could court her and the place where she accepted. To him, it only made sense that this was also the place where they should end.

_He would not bring her down with him._

She was too good. She was too good for him and too good for his clan. They would only taint her and ruin her. She deserved better than being known as the lover of a mass murderer.

He turned to the medic, who Itachi could only describe as the only woman he would love, which made this all the more painful for him.

He felt his heart clench but he steeled himself with the resolve that accepted the order to slaughter his own family, "Sakura—" Her name. Probably the last time he would ever say it, "Let's end this."

The girl turned to him and stared, her green eyes making the leaves surrounding them look gray and her pink hair blew in the soft breeze that passed by. A minute passed but Itachi felt like it had taken forever when she said, "Okay."

His throat tightened at her response. Despite the outcome going in his favor, the physical pain at her easy acceptance of their separation was unbearable. He had fully accepted that they would both be hurt but why did it feel like his was the only one breaking?

Sakura didn't look pained. She just looked tired and resigned at the fact that they would no longer be together.

He expected questions. _Why_. They would have been easier to deal with. He already prepared to answer that he needed to focus on his duties.

He expected tears and anger. They would have told him that he was doing the right thing because it would show those around him that he had broken her heart and that she had nothing to do with whatever crime he was set to commit.

Itachi watched as Sakura raised her hand to his face, her fingers grazing his cheek gently. Her touch felt like… It felt like all the good feelings in the world. Like a warm bed after an exhausting day, or the sun after storm.

He almost protested when she took her hand back. The strict discipline that he had ingrained in himself since his youth the only thing that stopped him.

"Goodbye," She had said, the sadness in voice reflected in the smile on her lips. Still, there had been no tears, just a very sad smile that was set on her lips. For that, he was thankful.

He wasn't sure he could hold his conviction if she cried and no matter how much he hated seeing her upset, no matter how much he would rather choose to kill himself than make her sad, he needed to be strong. He had to protect the village from a war. Konoha had to come first.

And strong he was, as he watched the girl he loved turn away from him and start to walk away from their bench. _From his life._

He wanted to run after her. To stop her and apologize and say that he was wrong but Itachi only watched.

The girl suddenly stopped, and something in his heart grew with hope that he immediately crushed because even if she returned, he would need to deny her again and he wasn't sure his heart could take anymore.

"I love you, Itachi." Itachi wasn't sure but that had felt more of a goodbye than when she actually said the word itself.

Then she left.

If she had stayed a second longer, Itachi would have cracked. Would have begged her to stay, his plans and his pride be damned.

The next day, she left for her mission to heal someone in a small village in the Land of Water. He only found out when she was already two days gone but they said she would be back in a week but he shouldn't care anymore. Because as much as he hated to admit it, they were correct.

He no longer had the right to.

-x-

"Haruno Sakura," The hardened voice of an older male drawled in a corner of the dark room where Haruno Sakura stood. She was bound and her chakra completely sealed.

Sakura turned to the direction of the sound with a frown. The man was careful, only greeting her with a projection of himself. She knew she wasn't even physically in the same location as her, "Don't forget our agreement, Danzo-sama."

She saw the projection's eyes moved to her seal, barely disguising his interest, "Yes, of course."

"If you go back on your word, expect your treason to be known throughout the village," She threatened, despite her position, "Our contract was done in blood that I reinforced with fuinjutsu," Fuinjutsu that had been so elaborate that it had taken her so long to develop but was invaluable.

The moment their contract is broken, the mission scroll that she had traded herself for would be summoned in Tsunade's hands with Sakura's own written testimony sealed in blood. She had also done the same for each member of her team, and the Uchiha patriarch. Between those people, she knew that the news would spell this man's execution.

No one could say that she wasn't a brilliant tactician.

"You insolent—" The man's image snarled.

"I don't trust you and your obsession with the Uchiha," She said with a sneer, "You will ensure that they are unharmed."

"Take her to the labs," The man ordered scathingly, "I'm going to crack the secret behind that seal on your head and then, I will make sure that you suffer a painful death."

She made sure to give him the blandest expression she could muster. Considering how much the man enjoyed holding his power over others, she knew this would only irritate him further.

As she was led outside of the room with a painful grab to her arms, Sakura closed her eyes. Danzo wouldn't kill her despite her threats, her skills were too valuable to him. With an inward grimace, she also acknowledged that it certainly wouldn't stop him from making her stay here extremely painful.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and remembered the face of the man that she had sacrificed her freedom for.

For Uchiha Itachi's heart, Konoha had always been first.

For Haruno Sakura's, it had always been Uchiha Itachi.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah! It's great to finally get this out. I couldn't concentrate on my other story and this plot came in my head.
> 
> For now, it's a short oneshot but I do have some ideas for it to become a fully-developed story. Especially expanding on the Kakasaku plot, which is probably my favorite pairing but I also do favor Itasaku as well. Sasuke was such an asshole in canon that unless his personality drastically changes, I have no desire to see him with Sakura.
> 
> I hope you guys liked it and let me know what you think!


End file.
